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CHAPTER I.

OF THE WORKS OF MENCIUS.

SECTION I.

THEIR RECOGNITION UNDER THE HAN DYNASTY, AND BEFORE IT.

1. In the third of the catalogues of Liû Hsin', containing a list of the Works of Scholars which had been collected up to his time (about A.D. 1), and in the first subdivision, devoted to authors of the classical or orthodox School, we have the entry-The Works of Mencius, in eleven Books. At that date, therefore, Mencius's writings were known and registered as a part of the literature of China.

2. A hundred years before Hsin, we have the testimony of the historian Sze-mâ Ch'ien. In the seventy-fourth Book of his 'Historical Records,' there is a brief memoir of Mencius, where he says that the philosopher, having withdrawn into private life, 'along with the disciples of Wan Chang, prefaced the Shih and the Sha, unfolded the views of Confucius, and made "The Works of Mencius, in seven Books","

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The discrepancy that appears between these testimonies, in regard to the number of the Books which went by the common name of Mencius, will be considered in the sequel. In the meanwhile it is shown that the writings of Mencius were recognised by scholars a hundred years before the Christian era, which takes us back to little more than a century and a half from the date assigned to his death.

1 See vol. i. proleg. pp. 4. 5. ‘諸子略‘孟子十一篇‘史記, 七十四, 列傳第十四‘與萬章之徒序詩書,述仲尼 之意作孟子七篇

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3. Among writers of the Han dynasty earlier than Sze-mâ Ch'ien, there were Han Ying1 and Tung Chung-shû2, contemporaries, in the reigns of the emperors Wăn, Ching, and Wû3 (B. C. 179-87). Portions of their Works remain, and in them are found quotations from Mencius*.

4. But we find references to Mencius and his Works anterior to the dynasty of Han. In the literary remains of Kung Fu, to whose concealment of many of the classical Works on the issuing of the edict for their destruction posterity is so much indebted3, there are accounts of Mencius, and many details of his history".

Between Mencius and the rise of the Ch'in dynasty flourished the philosopher Hsün Ch'ing", of whose writings enough is still preserved to form a large volume. By many he is regarded as the ablest of all the followers of Confucius. He several times makes mention of Mencius, and one of his most important chapters, ‘That Human Nature is Evil, seems to have been written expressly against Mencius's doctrine of its goodness. He quotes his arguments, and endeavours to set them aside.

5. I have used the term recognition in the heading of this section, because the scholars of the Han dynasty do not seem to have had any trouble in forming or settling the text of Mencius such as we have seen they had with the Confucian Analects.

And here a statement made by Châo Ch'i, whose labours upon our philosopher I shall notice in the next section, deserves to be considered. He says:- When Ch'in sought by its fires to destroy the Classical Books, and put the scholars to death in pits, there was an end of the School of Mencius. His Works, however, were included under the common name of "Philosophical," and so the tablets containing them escaped destruction'. Mâ Twan-lin does not hesitate to say that the statement is incorrect 10; and it seems strange that Mencius should have been exempted from the sweep of a measure intended to extinguish the memory of the most ancient and illustrious

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·韓嬰. ‘董仲舒. '太宗孝文皇帝;孝景皇帝;世 宗孝武皇帝. * See 四書拓餘說, 孟子, art. I, and 焦孝廉 FE, notes to Chão Ch't's preface. 5 See vol. i. proleg. p. 36. • I have not

been able to refer to the writings of K'ung Fû themselves, but extracts from them are given

in the notes to Chû Hai's preface to Mencius in the 四書經註集證.

荀卿

'荀子,性惡篇,其書號爲諸子,故篇籍得不泯;

see Chão Ch'i's preface to Mencius. "✰✰, Bk. olxxxiv, upon Mencius.

sovereigns of China and of their principles. But the same thing is affirmed in regard to the writings of at least one other author of antiquity. the philosopher Yü1; and the frequent quotations of Mencius by Han Ying and Tung Chung-shu, indicating that his Works were a complete collection in their times, give some confirmation to Ch'i's account.

On the whole, the evidence seems rather to preponderate in its favour. Mencius did not obtain his place as a classic' till long after the time of the Ch'in dynasty; and though the infuriate emperor would doubtless have given special orders to destroy his writings, if his attention had been called to them, we can easily conceive their being overlooked, and escaping with a mass of others which were not considered dangerous to the new rule.

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6. Another statement of Chao Ch'i shows that the Works of Mencius, once recognised under the Han dynasty, were for a time at least kept with a watchful care. He says that, in the reign of the emperor Hsiao-wăn (B.C. 178-155), 'the Lun-yü, the Hsiao-ching, Mencius, and the R-ya were all put under the care of a Board of Great Scholars," which was subsequently done away with, only The Five Ching" being left under such guardianship. Chú Hsi has observed that the Books of the Han dynasty supply no evidence of such a Board; but its existence may be inferred from a letter of Lit Hsin, complaining of the supineness with which the scholars seconded his quest for the scattered monuments of literature. He says:-'Under the emperor Hsiao-wăn, the Shu-ching reappeared, and the Shih-ching began to sprout and bud afresh. Throughout the empire, a multitude of books were continually making their appearance, and among them the Records and Sayings of all the Philosophers, which likewise had their place assigned to them in the Courts of Learning, and a Board of Great Scholars appointed to their charge'.'

As the Board of Great Scholars in charge of the Five Ching was instituted B.C. 135, we may suppose that the previous arrangement hardly lasted half a century. That it did exist for a time, however,

̇逢行珪註鬻子叙云,遭秦暴亂,書紀略盡,鬻子不 與焚燒;焦孝廉孟子正義, notes on Chao Ch'T's preface.’孝文 皇帝欲廣遊學之路,論語,孝經,孟子,爾雅,皆博士, 後罷傳配博士,獨立五經而已. * Boo the 文獻通考,

Bk. clxxiv. pp. 9, 10,

shows the value set upon the writings of Mencius, and confirms the point which I have sought to set forth in this section;-that there were Works of Mencius current in China before the Han dynasty, and which were eagerly recognised and cherished by the scholars under it, who had it in charge to collect the ancient literary productions of their country.

SECTION II,

CHÂO CH'Î AND HIS LABOURS UPON MENCIUS.

1. It has been shown that the Works of Mencius were sufficiently well known from nearly the beginning of the Han dynasty; but its more distinguished scholars do not seem to have devoted themselves to their study and elucidation. The Classics claimed their first attention. There was much labour to be done in collecting and collating the fragments of them, and to unfold their meaning was the chief duty of every one who thought himself equal to the task. Mencius was but one of the literati, a scholar like themselves. He could wait. We must come down to the second century of the Christian era to find the first commentary on his writings.

In the prolegomena to the Confucian Analects, Section i. 7, I have spoken of Chăng Hsuan or Chăng K'ang-ch'ăng, who died at the age of seventy-four, some time between A. D. 190-220, after having commented on every ancient classical book. It is said by some1 that he embraced the Works of Mencius in his labours. If he did so, which to me is very doubtful, the result has not come down to posterity. To give to our philosopher such a treatment as he deserved, and compose a commentary that should descend to the latest posterity, was the work of Chao Ch'i, of whom we have a memoir in the fifty-fourth chapter of the Biographies in the Books of the second Han dynasty.

2. Ch'i was born A.D. 108. His father was a censor about the

1 In the 'Books of the Sûi dynasty' (A. D. 589-617), Bk. xxxix,,, we find that there were then in the national Repositories three Works on Mencius,-Chao Ch'i's, one by Chăng Hsüan, and one by Liû Hsi (), also a scholar of Han, but probably not

earlier than Chao Ch'i. The same Works were existing under the T'ang dynasty (618-907);-see the 'Books of Tang,' Bk. xlix,, . By the rise of the Sung dynasty (A. D. 975

or 960), however, the two last were both lost. The entries in the Records of Sûi and Tang would seem to prove that Chăng Hsüan had written on Mencius, but in the sketches of his life which I have consulted,--and that in the 'Books of the After Han dynasty,'

+, must be the basis of all the rest,—there is no mention made of his having done so.

court of the emperor Hsiao-ân 1, and gave him the name of Chiâ, which he afterwards changed into Ch'i for the purpose of concealment, changing also his original designation of T'âi-ch'ing into Pinch'ing2. It was his boast that he could trace his descent from the ancient sovereign Chwan-hsü, B. C. 2510.

In his youth Ch'i was distinguished for his intelligence and diligent study of the Classics. He married a niece of the celebrated scholar and statesman Mâ Yung, but bore himself proudly towards him and her other relatives. A stern independence and hatred of the sycophancy of the times were from the first characteristic of him, and proved the source of many troubles.

When he was over thirty, Ch'i was attacked with some severe and lingering illness, in consequence of which he lay upon his bed for seven years. At one time, thinking he was near his end, he addressed a nephew who was with him in the following terms:'Born a man into the world, in retirement I have not displayed the principles exemplified on Mount Chi3, nor in office achieved the merit of Î and Lu. Heaven has not granted me such distinction. What more shall I say? Set up a round stone before my grave, and engrave on it the inscription,-" Here lies a recluse of Han, by surname Châo and by name Chia. He had the will, but not the opportunity. Such was his fate. Alas!"'

Contrary to expectation, Ch'i recovered, and in A.D. 154 we find him again engaged in public life, but in four years he is flying into obscurity under a feigned name, to escape the resentment of Tang Hăng", one of the principal ministers, and his partisans. He saved

his life, but his family and relatives fell victims to the vengeance of his enemies, and for some time he wandered about the country of the Chiang and Hwai, or among the mountains and by the sea-coast on the north of the present Shan-tung. One day as he was selling cakes in a market-place, his noble presence attracted the attention of Sun Ch'ungs, a young gentleman of Ân-ch'iût, who was passing by in a carriage, and to him on being questioned he made known his

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·孝安皇帝 趙歧,字邪,初名嘉,字臺卿,後避 難,故自改名字. *顓頊.‘馬融··箕山之操.It was to

Mount Chi that and, two ancient worthies, are said to have withdrawn, • These are the well-known Î Yin ○(伊尹)

when Yao wished to promote them to honour.

and Tai-kung Wang (4*).

唐衡. ‘安邱孫崇. The name

Ân-ch'iû still remains in the district so called of the department of Ch'ing-châu (HH).

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